There's a better way to fight off morning breath

In the near future, the source of our stinky morning breath
could be the thing that helps us beat it.

Our body is filled with trillions of
microorganisms, some of which hang out in our nice
and humid mouths. But while we sleep, our mouths often get dried
out, which can kill off some good bacteria. In their absence, the
stinky gas-emitting bacteria thrive, which is why you
sometimes wake up with a foul-smelling mouth.

But there could be a solution. Its name is Streptococcus
salivarius K12. Researchers think the bacteria strain could
soon be put into a lozenge or spray and used as a probiotic, or
beneficial mix of bacteria, to knock out the bad bacteria that
causes bad breath.

The delicate balance of microbes living inside each of us,
collectively called our microbiome, help keep our body running.
Unfortunately, when we take antibiotics or use an antibacterial
hand wash, those actions can wipe out many of these beneficial
microbes, which throws off the balance in our bodies.

So, researchers have been exploring ways to make it right, taking
a particular interest in S. salivarius K12. A 2006
study of 23 people with halitosis (bad breath)
found that those given S.salivarius
K12 lozenges had lower levels of smelly
breath. The participants started by using an antimicrobial
mouthwash followed by either a placebo lozenge or one
with S. salivarius K12. They found
that the addition of the bacteria reduced the levels of smelly
breath better than the mouthwash on its own. A follow-up study in
2011 on 53 participants
demonstrated the safety of the probiotic, though larger
studies would likely need to happen before we all start
adding doses of bacteria to our body.

Ideally, this probiotic could be used in addition to antiseptic
mouthwashes like Listerine,
which kill all the bacteria — good and bad — in your mouth.
Andrea Azcarate-Peril, director of the University of North
Carolina's Microbiome Research Core, told Business Insider
that antibacterial solutions like mouthwash and hand
sanitizer are being overused to the point where they could be
doing more harm than good.

"We are just too clean," she said.

But probiotics aren't a perfect solution either — at least not
yet. We still don't know everything about the bacteria in
our bodies, and not every probiotic works for every
person. Plus, probiotics still aren't regulated by
the US Food and Drug Administration, so it's a little tricky to
know if the supplements people are taking are actually doing
what they say they are.

Even so, the probiotics industry is expanding. Susan
Perkins, one of the curators of an exhibit
at the American Museum of Natural History focused on the
microbiome, told Business Insider in November that she wouldn't
be surprised if we started using bacteria to treat morning breath
within the year. Eventually, the hope is to eventually use
these probiotics to treat everything from cancer to bad body
odor, said Perkins.

In the meantime, keep your eye out for S. salivarius
K12, possibly coming soon to a drugstore near you.